Eye-ball to eye-ball: England versus Turkey |
| April 4th 2003
So it was almost inevitable that there would an attempt by some England fans to extract some form of revenge when the two teams lined up at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland on Wednesday night. The local police anticipated trouble and cancelled all leave. Local papers had been caught between reporting on the potential for trouble and plans for ‘a carnival atmosphere’. When I had spoken in advance of the match to a friend of mine, Irfan Kutluay, a Turkish supporter living in Hackney, he was surprised to hear that there was a potential for trouble. “We have not heard anything about this, we are bringing a mini-bus full of kids.” On the day itself trouble was largely averted because of the very heavy police presence. Just after 5.00pm around 30 Leeds fans from the Leeds Service Crew were detained in the city centre and prevented from going to the match. It is not known if traditional rivalries had been put to one side and whether the meeting in a pub of two gangs from bitter rivals Sunderland and Newcastle was to fight amongst themselves or to join up together to try and get ‘the Turks.’ It did them little good, as the police had them well clocked and arrested and detained them. Meanwhile the nearest pub to the ground, the Wheatsheaf, was attacked because of its Sunderland connection by hooligans from Middlesbrough. Just before kick-off as the last of the 4,500 Turkish fans were being escorted to the ground a large crowd of around 200 to 300 English fans tried to break through the police cordon and attack them. A fair number were arrested and taken away. Turkish fans had began arriving at the ground from mid-morning, some I spoke to had anticipated trouble and over half their support waited patiently until the gates opened at 6.30pm. Particularly keen to get a good look at the ground were followers of Galatasary, who told me that their club was looking at modelling their proposed new ground on Sunderland’s. Inside the ground the atmosphere was electric and both sets of supporters were in good voice. England fans booed the Turkish national anthem, the Turkish under 21 team sitting directly in front of me were outraged and held up clenched fists as the first notes of “God Save the Queen” boomed out. Turkish fans aped their English counterparts and booed. In the first half an old racist favourite was given a new twist to become ‘I’d rather be a Paki than a Turk’ which could be clearly heard on one occasion during the first half. I gather from reports that the BBC ignored this. That the chant came directly after ‘No Surrender to the IRA’ clearly demonstrated it had been inspired by the ‘hard core’ elements which continue to follow their national team. After the match the FA may have condemned the racist behaviour of the fans, but it is worth bearing in mind that short of inserting a poster from Kick-it-Out in the programme and allowing Sunderland Fans against Racism to distribute 1,000 posters in the week before the match little was done to try and prevent incidents of racism occurring. Yet Sunderland is a City where less than a year ago an Iranian refugee was stabbed to death, his killer Stephen Roberts only recently being jailed for life. Meanwhile the British National Party has just announced its intention of standing in every ward in the May 1st elections. Unlike the FA, Northumbria Police clearly recognised the potential for racist incidents and attacks to occur. They forced the North of England Refugee Service to close down their once a week drop-in service for refugees on a Wednesday afternoon in a Church in the City Centre. Colleges and the University, both with above average numbers, for the area, of black and overseas students were forced to close their doors at 4.00pm. At half-time there was a minor altercation in the West Stand between England supporters and Turkish supporters with the official party. The police quickly intervened. No one was arrested. When England scored supporters invaded the pitch, and they did so just before the end when Beckham rapped the match up with a penalty to make it two nil. An England supporter spat on one of the substitutes and was led away by the police. Once again the Turkish under 21 squad had to endure racist taunts and ‘fuck you’ hand gestures. They were not amused and some more senior members had to pacify them. It was probably just as well for those making the taunts that they were successful. After the match I joined the 300 or so English hooligans hanging around to ‘do battle’ as one lad said. They were a few chants and the occasional coke bottle or can chucked at the police in full riot gear, some on horseback. I chatted to some of those about whether they were going to see the return match in Turkey later this year. A few were, but as a Leeds fan I identified said “not likely, they’re mad over there”, most weren’t. Although they would never admit it I had the distinct feeling that what annoyed them most wasn’t the killing of two Leeds fans but the belief that Turkish fans have disturbed the equilibrium in that English fans can no longer count themselves as the hardest in Europe. There is a grudging respect, backed up with intense racist hatred. At 10.50pm the Turkish fans were let out of the ground. Most England supporters had long since drifted away, others were penned back and the Turkish fans were lead to buses and coaches, where they were escorted out of the City. Police in riot gear patrolled the City Centre to prevent further outbreaks of disorder. 105 English fans were arrested, most will probably not be charged and the rest can be expected to appear before magistrates over the next few days and weeks. This was the second time this season that there has been major trouble at matches at the Stadium of Light. Supporters from Sunderland and Middlesbrough fought running battles before and after the local derby match in February. In the City talk is already rife about ‘a bloodbath’ when Newcastle come to town on April 26th, in a match which may see Sunderland relegated. |